In an interview with WFTVtoday, Orange County Mayor Teresa Jacobs said she is in favor of the proposed Parramore location for a soccer stadium because it will not displace any residents. The Mayor couldn’t be more wrong.

In fact, the displacement will happen much faster than if the city were to demolish home by home as they have been doing over the last decade. With the addition of another $100+ million soccer stadium in Parramore, the increases in property taxes and housing costs alone will displace most of the remaining residents in Parramore.

What Mayor Jacobs does not understand – probably because she has actually never been into Parramore by her own admission earlier this year – is that the average household income in Parramore right now is under the poverty line. Let me repeat. The majority of Parramore households earn less than $13,000 each year according to census reports. The average monthly housing cost in Parramore is currently around $330/month. The Parramore gentrification and displacement is clear.

A new stadium is not going to help, as Mayor Jacobs claims and she knows better. All national and academic studies show NO local economic impact, and in fact, publicly financed stadiums and pro sports teams could actually bring a negative local economic impact to surrounding small business.

She knows better because we have sat down together in her office and discussed these issues together. She understood and agreed with the facts and studies presented to her. She looked me in the eye and said she was concerned because she had never really been aware before this year.

In a perfect world, local government and local businesses (especially those businesses that would profit from the stadium) would work together to relocate Parramore folks to better places. How can we make this happen? We need fresh ideas—this can be done.

Mick, I don’t have all the answers, but even in my campaign I proposed an alternative. I also earned a certificate in Urban Social Analysis, with a focus on poverty in the American City. So I’ve sent every County Commissioner a copy of 9 policies that should be implemented BEFORE a new stadium is considered. I’ll try to link them on here as well. In the meantime, if you’re interested, I still have some info up at the old campaign website: http://www.mikecantone.com/the-vision/quality-of-life as well as in the 8 point plan linked at the top if you want to see some of the fresh ideas I support.

Mick, also check the history in Orlando. The city systematically displaced the African-American community on numerous occassions. In fact, that’s how Parramore was created, it was initially the only neighborhood African-Americans were allowed to live once the city took all the other land. It’s a twisted history down here…the broken promises need to be fulfilled, plain and simple. That is the solution. Not moving an entire historic community yet again just to appease the wishes of the wealthy and connected.

And let’s not forget the other local projects that will benefit from this allocation of funding—the PAC, the convention center, the Citrus Bowl and more advertising for the area as a tourist destination. With every leap forward there is some pain but we can fix that if we try.

Actually, a soccer stadium directly impacts the others (like PAC, Citrus Bowl) in a negative way. It will now directly compete for a slice of the tourist tax dollar pie and in the case of the Citrus Bowl it will now compete with events that would have gone there, meaning expect more empty days when those $360 million renovations are done.

Every economic study and analysis of publicly financed stadiums prove there is NO local economic impact and in some cases there is actually a negative local economic impact as the stadium will suck more money out of the surrounding areas.

[…] previously took on Mayor Jacobs when she made bogus claims about displacement and the gentrification impact to Parramore. Orange County Commissioners are set to debate the soccer stadium proposal on October 22. Contact […]